Hardly. There are those, but there are also fine intelligent young men and women who do it out of love for their family, their community and their country and who want to serve and protect them. That might explain why so many of them become police officers after their military stint.

No, many people actually want to join the military.. I think those people are insane, but that may just be me.

I've heard this before. It is true, that a disproportionate number of lower and lower middle class people wind up in the military as a result of socioeconomic factors, but it is by no means an absolute truth. I know plenty of people who joined or plan to join the military because they wish to serve their country, they find it honorable, or they want discipline or to better themselves.

I certainly hope not. I think that is an incredibly narrow minded perspective and does a terrible disservice to the wonderful men and women who choose to serve and protect their country. I find them to be of the highest and bravest class of people around.

These people are putting their life on the line for people like your mother. *shakes Head* The best of the best are in the service. Top doctors, surgeons, etc, are still in the reserves. I look up to them with the utmost respect and they deserve it.

just when I was thinking you were cool.

...no, but people who have been spit on by society, and have been sh*t on...and forgotten about...by the people they are fighting for........Go, to try and make a better life for the people in the community they just got out of... Its not cuz they dont have any other option, its cuz they want to open up options for the future.

No, not always, there are those that do because they have no where else to go. But there are some that want to continue a family tradition of service. There are those who want to do it to go to college, (the GI bill). There are those who want to serve their country because they want to protect things that they love, believe in, and cherish. There are those who want to get educated doing something that they normally wouldn't be able to do (fly/repair/maintain helecopters and trucks). These are a few of the reasons some of my friends joined. Though I do know someone who is trying to join the military to get his teeth fixed. Also (depending on rank) it's a nice tax-free pay check (atleast I think it is tax free) plus you don't have to worry about housing, or food, for atleast 2 years, and you get training on how to survive. Now if you ask me if I joined the military, the answer is no I haven't.

Hahahaha sounds like a desperate mother.

She is a true bag of hammers.... Guess she is forever grateful to those low class people for sacrificing their lives so she can demean them (if she knows what that means...)

I do think your mother's point is valid. It has been my experience that alot of low-class people do join the military out of desperation. It is important, though, that you realize this is not the only reason that all people go into the military.

Not at all. She's calling those disciplined officers that went through 4 years of Military College low-class people. On the contrary. I have many friends that are at Westpoint or Annapolis. They are some of the most high class gentlemen that I know in this world, and will defend them from their honor any day of the week.

I don't think it is a commonly held opinion. Though there are a huge number of people who join the military as a last ditch effort to prove that they aren't total eff ups. Unfortunately, the military just makes them uniformed idiots. Still there are people who are really courageous and full of potential who join the military to serve their country and these individuals usually do shine in the armed forces.

I think it is the low class people who sit on their asses and say things like.

I don't know, Why don't we ask George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Colin Powell, John Kerry, or JFK.

I dunno. You tell me: I served 20 years in the Navy (Enlisted, not officer) as a Reactor Operator on nuclear powered submarines. I retired as a Chief Petty Officer. If you want to know what THAT means, see my profile. I was an instructor at a Naval Nuclear Prototype training facility. I currently work as a Nuclear Engineer. I have a beautiful wife of 13 years and three wonderful kids. I have traveled to quite a few different countries and met scores of people, seen sights I only read or dreamed about. I served with honor and integrity. I sacrificed 20 years and three weeks of my life to serve a nation which values Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. I have served alongside other men and women, of all races, creeds, and colors, in my career. I have trained those below me to become good sailors. I have trained those over me to become good officers. I and my shipmates have welcomed the weddings and newborn children our fellow shipmates have helped people move, repair their homes/cars, collected donations for newborns. I and my fellow shipmates have done thousands of hours of community service for underprivileged people, handicapped people, schools, hospitals, and disaster victims. A military doctor performed the delicate surgery which saved my hearing due to damage caused by tumors. When a shipmate's family member had died unexpectedly, we passed the hat and bought the plane ticket to get him home where he needed to be. Some of my fellow shipmates even saved someone from serious loss, injury, or death at the hands of criminals like robbers or muggers. More than one of my Corpsmen have been instrumental in rendering medical assistance to people outside the military due to accidents or disaster. I (and many thousands like me) did all this in support of the freedoms of ALL our citizens, not just those I agree with or like. Even (and ESPECIALLY) those who disagree with me or hate me for having been in the military. i could go on like this all day. People in the military are a cross section of the civilian population. People from all walks of life serve in the military. So you tell me: does this sound like "low-class people" to you?

Of course not. My son joined the Navy when he was 18, and I did several years of volunteer work with the United States Naval Cadet Corps, which is a youth group similar to the ROTC. We had mostly middle class cadets who were interested in making a career out of the military.

I don't believe it's this way for most but I do know quite a few who did join to escape one thing or another.

The two men whom I admire most on this planet are former Marines. Some of the other men I admire are either retired or former Navy men. Seems to me that if one has character, one can make a very successful career in the armed services.

Princess Mommy needs to pull her head out. No. There are responsible folks out there who feel a need to serve someone other than themselves.

I think mommy is trying to shame you from pursuing a dream of yours. Don't you listen, those are old erroneous beliefs. A study by Tim Kane, PhD. reported by the Heritage foundation found that the household income of recruits generally matches the income distribution of the American population. There are slightly higher proportions of recruits from the middle class and slightly lower proportions from low-income brackets. The study also found that recruits were: MORE highly educated than the equiv­alent general population More rural and less urban in origin Of SIMILAR income status, and Some states South and West, provided a much higher proportion of enlisted troops by population. http://www.heritage.org/research/nationalsecurity/cda05-08.cfm

My father served 29 + Years In the Airforce, then Flew for Air America, and was Killed In Nam, My sisters Father was killed over Korea Flying a U-2, My Uncles served, and I served and am willing to serve the US Navy again in any capacitity they deem. I and my family and freinds have served with Honour, We to a Man and Woman will defend The Republic of The United States of America Constition and the Flag, The Nation that it Stands for! and your Mother's right to put those who serve down! In my opinion there are no low class people just people who lack skills, social, education, trades, whatever! Show these asnswer's to your mother! My Mother came from a higher Social status then my father, My Grandfather served too, he was a Laborer, he had a house and provided for his family after serving in WWI. And my s/o father served too!

no...and my low opinion of your mother is she is 'low class and low on common sense'...i am sure all who served,have served, and laid down their life for such as her..would share the same opinion....not an ounce of class ..self righteous arrogance..HOT AIR...

My grandfather, husband, cousin, step dad, and father served, however, I am ashamed they risked their lives for someone like your mother.

A lot of idealistic and honorable people join the military because of it's values and culture rather than join the corporate world where making money is the main goal and anything goes in the pursuit of profits. In many civilian professions you are expected to be dishonest as an unspoken part of your job-description. The military is probably the only institution that still enshrines noble values like honour, integrity, courage and duty. Good luck with your mother...but remember it's YOUR life anyway.

It's a commonly-held opinion by those who commonly hold it as their opinion. Let me share with you some things I learned regarding evaluating peoples' opinions: Opinions differ from facts in that an opinion can be based on fact, but a fact cannot be based on an opinion. Opinions differ from facts in that in order to be true, an opinion must be supported by fact, but in order to be true, a fact does not need to be supported by opinion.

What's your mother's opinion of our society/culture that pays teachers slave wages, yet athletes and movie stars make millions of dollars for what they do? A society/culture that closes school programs and allows rampant homelessness while spending millions, no, billions of dollars to support foreign countries' economies and costs of living? How about a system of government that takes tax dollars from hard-working people and gives it to welfare programs, etc, even after 40+ years of evidence that it's ineffective in the "war on poverty", and that poverty has become multi-generational for a large majority of its "beneficiaries"? What does she have to say about prison inmates throughout the US having the audacity to sue the government because their meal wasn't hot enough, they were denied certain television channels, or the tax-payer subsidized health care they receive free of charge is inadequate? I'm sure ol' Ma has plenty of opinions. Perhaps she's just trying to discourage you (or someone else) from joining the military, which is fine; it's her right to speak her mind. She can be as insulting as she wants to, but I'd like to offer an alternative solution. She can pay tuition for a military college that will help guarantee an appointment as a commisioned officer instead of a lowly, scummy enlisted person. She can have a congressperson or senator (to whom she'll have to give ample 'support') write a letter of appointment to one of our country's four service academies (Army, navy, Air Force or Coast Guard), graduation from which is a guaranteed commission as an officer.

That's pretty much been the case for a long time, however, more and more young people have turned to the armed forces in order to get an education. These days, they're doing it also because they can't find a job anywhere else. Damn shame too, they get cheated and used big time!

"... ONLY low-class people with no better options ..." Sorry. No. MANY people do so for a variety of reasons. Yes, SOME do it out of a feeling of desperation - Desperation that the military is the only way they will get into college... Desperation that the military is the only way they can get the insurance benefits they NEED for a new/growing family... Desperation that the military is the only way they will learn the discipline to move out of the life they are currently in. BUT, many do so for purely familial, idealistic, or patriotic reasons. Many in my family were "Friends" and were opposed to war on religious grounds. Yet, our family still had those who served, and served well. Some gave all. All gave some. Here's an article I wrote for my website a couple of years ago about Veteran's and Memorial Days - http://www.orangefrogproductions.com/ofp2o_auth_artlet_veterans+memorialdays.shtml . I hope you can tell by that that our family is proud of our family's service to the greatest nation in the world. (I know that's not necessarily others' opinions of the US, but it is MINE.)

It's a stereotype.

Tell you mother to take the stick out of her ass and shut up and stop making a fool out of herself. Talk about an arrogant twit.

hell no after i took their tests in high school they drove me and my parents mad trying to get me to sign up... +5

is she talking about people who actually see combat? not the army engineers, surgeons, etc. but the ones who actually hold a gun and go outside? that's ballsier than i could ever get. but to directly answer your question, i don't think your mother's opinion is commonly held. she has a right to her opnion and i'm sure she has reasons for it, but i do not think many people will see eye to eye with her on this. poorness/low-class...well, i don't see very many rich people joining up to go into direct combat. i suppose i agree somewhat with that. surely there are people who join because of money problems, but not everyone does; that would be a generalization. some people probably join because they truly believe they have something to offer the country and the world. i, however, am anti-war in all its manifestations and accessories, and hope that this will not even be an issue needing discussing in the future.